And Here's How VR Tricks Your Brain!

Total immersion is what everyone making a vr headset, game or app is aiming towards - making the virtual reality experience so real that we forget the computer, headgear and accessories and act exactly as we would in the real world.

- Shreya Bhattacharya

It’s been some time since we are talking about VR a bit too much? And that’s certainly not for no reason. VR has been under spotlight since quite a while and we are all mind blown by the amazing tech behind it.

But do you know how VR tech tricks your brains? How does it actually work?How does wearable tech make you think you're standing on Mars when you're actually about to bump into the kitchen counter.

Well, with the army of virtual reality headsets ever expanding, let us explore how VR actually works and how it tricks your brain to believe what it shows. While devices generally take the same form, how they project imaging in front of our eyes varies greatly. The likes of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift provide PC-based operations, though major players such as Google and Samsung offer more affordable, smartphone-based headsets. Sony has also managed to crack the console scene with Playstation VR.

Once your headset and power source are secured, some kind of input is also required for you to connect - whether this is through head tracking, controllers, hand tracking, voice, on-device buttons or track pads.

Total immersion is what everyone making a VR headset, game or app is aiming towards - making the virtual reality experience so real that we forget the computer, headgear and accessories and act exactly as we would in the real world. So how do we get there?

The Basics

VR headsets like Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR are often referred to as HMDs, which simply means they are head mounted displays. Even with no audio or hand tracking, holding up Google Cardboard to place your smartphone's display in front of your face can be enough to get you half-immersed in a virtual world.